


Ilex Kisses

by KanraKixystix



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Ships Will Be Added, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Implied Relationships, Implied Wooley/Longshot, Life Day (Star Wars), M/M, Mistletoe, Not Beta Read, implied waxer/boil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28074786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KanraKixystix/pseuds/KanraKixystix
Summary: A collection of clones catching one another under the mistletoe for kisses.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/CT-7567 | Rex, Hardcase & CT-5597 | Jesse & CT-6116 | Kix, Hardcase/CT-6116 | Kix
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	1. Hardcase & Kix

**Author's Note:**

> Hardcase loves the idea of kisses underneath the mistletoe, but Kix is the one kiss he wants more than anything.

Their time on Kamino didn’t allow much room for the celebration of Life Day. What they knew of the holiday was what they had studied in books, and even then, it wasn’t much. They had learned the base knowledge of the annual tradition and a crude understanding of different ways to celebrate. 

It wasn’t until their induction into the 501st that Hardcase saw the light in Kix’s eyes shine brighter than he’d ever seen them, and General Skywalker had taken it upon himself to decorate the Resolute II with what he deemed as “proper.” Hardcase learned a great many things at once. For one, this was going to become his favorite time of year, and clearly, Kix’s as well. Secondly, he learned of tinsel, garland, lights, and gifts. 

The lesson that he took the most from, however, was his introduction to the small bush with tiny red berries and dark green leaves that hung overhead. This was mistletoe, and the idea was to kiss underneath it. 

To this day, no one knew how Hardcase got ahold of as much mistletoe as he did. It was a secret to Kix as well, and Hardcase told Kix everything. How there seemed to be bushels of the holiday plant hanging in every corner and doorway of the ship would forever be the greatest mystery that had ever plagued the 501st, and it would forever remain Hardcase’s dirty little secret.

Nearly everyone had been caught under his little holiday traps. He’d managed to snag Captain Rex and Commander Cody outside of the mess, a few young rookies going in and out of the fresher, and had even managed to snag a kiss on the cheek from Commander Tano for himself. He was absolutely thrilled at that one, but more importantly, he was happy that his annual bouts of mistletoe mischief seemed to bring a little more cheer to an otherwise dreary situation. 

This war continued to take and take and take, and with every loss, it was a grim reminder that their time wasn’t guaranteed. They needed to make the best of their days, and feelings shouldn’t be bottled up. Hardcase lived by that, mostly. There was just one thing that he couldn’t muster up the courage to spit out. He’d been through and lived countless battles, some more dangerous than others, been in charge of men, pulled off some of the most idiotic and heroic stunts that this war would remember. 

But there was something about the sheer-headed medic with a brilliant smile and even more beautiful eyes that caught his tongue every time. If he was being completely truthful, Hardcase had been in love with Kix for longer than he can remember. He couldn’t pinpoint when his feelings had shifted from friendly, to brotherly, to definitely more than brotherly, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to be that someone special to Kix, the way Commander Cody was that someone special to Rex. 

Try as he might, he had still never managed to catch Kix under one of his many strategically placed mistletoes. Somehow, the medic seemed to always dodge them, and it was baffling. Short of hanging it over his own bunk, Hardcase was pretty sure that he was never going to capture the kiss that he really wanted. 

The season was almost over, and the eve of Life Day was upon them. Hardcase was maybe a little glad that he hadn’t been around for the last few days to wallow in his own self-pity, which Jesse had so blatantly put it the morning they left for their next mission. Kix was supposed to have come with them, but Coric was backed up, and Rex had made the decision that the mission didn’t warrant needing a field medic. He had been right, of course. He and Jesse had handled it just fine on their own, but it hadn’t stopped Hardcase from missing Kix. 

He always missed Kix. 

Thankfully, the mission had given him the distraction that he’d needed. There was little time to miss someone when he was fighting to stay alive and out of sight. Tusken Raiders were nasty to say the least, and outnumbered him and Jesse by the dozens. All they had to do was grab the intel and get out, which they did, but not without a few scrapes and blaster burns. He’d have fun explaining to Kix how he’d gotten the burn on the inside of his thigh. 

When their transport ship landed in the hangar, Hardcase hadn’t expected anyone to be waiting for them. After all, it was just an intel mission. Still, he felt heat rise in his cheeks when Kix appeared from beside a stack of munitions that were being loaded into a different ship. 

“You’re alive!” He greeted good naturedly.

“As if you really had any doubts.” Jesse grinned as Kix met them halfway. 

“I never know with the two of you.” Kix sighed and did a quick scan over them with his eyes, undoubtedly checking for injuries. “You seem to be pretty okay, though, save for some burns. How do you feel?” 

“We’re fine, Kixy.” Hardcase chuckled. Kix always worried over them. 

“I’m going to hit up the ‘fresher.” Jesse sidestepped Kix as he moved in to check his forehead for a temperature. “I’ll see you later.” 

As he waved to them, Kix turned back to Hardcase with a relieved smile and slid his hands into his. This was normal, Hardcase thought. Kix always wanted to hold his hands after a mission. He had chalked it up to Kix discreetly checking his pulse, even when their fingers wound together. 

“Really, though,” Kix continued, “are you okay? I heard you and Jesse took some blaster fire.”

Kix’s expression went soft, and Hardcase squeezed his hands. 

“It’s nothing you can’t fix with some bacta,” he reassured. “Promise.” 

He heard a few giggles from troopers nearby, but he brushed it off. He and Kix had always been like this. It wasn’t anything to be embarrassed of. Besides, he’d seen and heard from vode partake in much more vocal activities. Hand holding was nothing. 

Then he heard a few whistles, and that confused him. What the kriff was going on? 

“Kiss already!” He heard someone say, followed by more whistles. 

His eyes widened as he stared at Kix, and simultaneously, they tilted their heads back and looked up. It was a long ways up, but sure enough, there was a small bushel of holly hanging from the rafters. Hardcase flushed. 

“Mistletoe?” He asked, shocked. He knew he hadn’t put one way up there, but he mentally commended whoever had, because it was genius. 

Another, quieter giggle caught his attention, and he looked back down to see Kix’s cheeks bright pink and a shy smile on his lips. His eyes were bright again, like that time he had first seen Life Day decorations, and Hardcase’s heart skipped a beat. 

“I think that means you’re supposed to kiss me,” Kix teased. He knew full well what it meant. 

“I-I, well, only if you want me to.” Hardcase stammered. This was happening. Kriff, this was happening, and he was wildly unprepared. He was filthy from spending the last several days on a desert planet, and probably smelled like bantha shit from sweating on the planet with two suns. Oh hells, did he have bad breath? 

It didn’t matter, because Kix was pressing closer, and suddenly their noses brushed together, and Hardcase could feel the words against his lips more than he actually heard them.

“It’s all I’ve wanted for a long time.” Kix whispered. 

Hardcase’s body moved on autopilot. Before he knew it, he was wrapping a firm arm around the small of Kix’s back and cupping his cheek, pulling him in the rest of the way. Kix’s arms circled around his neck, and when their lips connected, Hardcase would swear he could see galaxies behind his closed eyes. 

Kix’s lips were soft against his own, and the kiss was chaste at first. The first small touch, as amazing as it was, was nothing compared to them they surged forward to deepen a second kiss, and then a third, until the whole hangar was cheering for their slow, open mouthed kisses. Hardcase felt like he was flying away with the butterflies that were flitting about his stomach, and it was the most amazing sensation in the world. Finally, he and Kix were kissing, and he was too lost in the buzz and excitement to see Jesse slide a small handful of credits to Commander Tano for her help.


	2. Cody & Rex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody wasn't a grinch, really. He just really wanted to wait for Rex to be the one that he kissed under the mistletoe.

Despite the amount of time that the 212th spent aboard the Resolute II during this war, Cody had found that this was the first Life Day that he would be able to spend with the 501st. It wasn’t a big deal, not really, but some would argue that spending holidays with the people you cared for was the best way to spend it. Of course, they had never celebrated Life Day prior to joining forces with the Jedi, but they at the very least had a crude understanding of the concept of it.

Over the last two years, Cody had learned quite a bit more. Admittedly, he found it hard to be overly excited about the holiday, but it was something that his men looked forward to, so he tried to participate in as much of their festivities as he could. After all, they were in the middle of a war. Battle plans and strategy meetings came first, but once he was able to get some time to himself, he did like to watch Ghost Company enjoy some Life Day traditions.

His favorite, though he did not partake himself, was watching his men get caught under the mistletoe. He smiled warmly when Boil sweetly caught Waxer under the little holly bush that hung just over the doorway into the barracks. His heart swelled when Gregor sneakily held it over Crys’ head just before leaning in to give him a chaste kiss on his cheek while Crys blushed over the data he was sorting through on his console. He laughed when Wooley and Longshot simultaneously caught one another and giggled into their shared sloppy kiss.

Naturally, many of his men had tried to catch their Marshal Commander under the mistletoe, but Cody was hyper aware of where Ghost Company had hidden them, and he had narrowly dodged some of their best efforts. The only person to catch him thus far had been Slick, and Cody succumbed to coy little kiss on the cheek, but how was he supposed to dodge him when he was literally waiting for him outside of his own quarters? Cheeky bastards, they were, but Cody did love all his men.

There was, however, one man that he was looking forward to getting under the mistletoe now that he was in the right place at the right time, and Cody was absolutely delighted to learn that the 501st was just as enthusiastic about Life Day and the festivities as his own men were. For one, it made the war seem far away and gave everyone a bit of joy in a dark time, but more importantly, it gave him the perfect opportunity to catch Captain Rex right where he wanted him.

His chance didn’t take long to present itself. He’d missed his lover that morning thanks to early morning rounds, but his plan would not be foiled this time. If his calculations were correct – and they always were – Rex would be entering the mess at the same time as Cody, and he had made sure that Hardcase had put up mistletoe the night before, as if Hardcase had needed any prompting to pick on his batchmate.

Right on cue, Rex came up on the entryway right as Cody had. The Marshal Commander was acutely aware of how many eyes were about to be on them, including their Jedi, but he had been waiting for this for too long to pass it up.

Rex gazed at him with a fond grin, and it made Cody’s heart skip a beat with how disarmingly beautiful the Captain was.

“Headed my way?” Rex teased, and Cody couldn’t help the giggle that slipped from his lips as he grinned in kind.

“I sure hope so. I’d hate to be the one that let you get away,” Cody replied quietly, just for Rex’s ears, and Rex’s blush was absolutely worth the overly flowery words.

Rex stepped slightly ahead of him, letting their fingers brush, and it was then Cody realized that this was it. Smoothly, he slid his fingers between Rex’s and pulled him back just enough to spin him around until they were nose to nose. There was a quick gasp that was barely able to slip out between them before Cody slotted their lips together.

They had kissed hundreds, maybe thousands of times over the last few years, mostly in private, sometimes in front of a handful of their men, but this was different. The whole mess, filled with Ghost and Torrent Companies getting their first meal of the day, and their Jedi Generals all had their eyes on them now. It was freeing, exhilarating, and feeling Rex melt against him and wrap his arms around his neck to deepen the kiss made all the taunts and cheers that echoed from the bulkheads worth the wait.

If kissing Rex like this was the only gift that he got for Life Day, Cody would be more than happy with that.

After a long moment, they parted, and Rex laughed breathlessly against Cody’s lips. “What was that for?”

“Mistletoe,” Cody replied simply and smiled. “Been waiting a long time to kiss you under it.”

Another small laugh bubbled from Rex’s lips as he stole a shorter, more chaste kiss from Cody.

“Was it worth the wait?” Rex asked cheekily and nuzzled him playfully.

Cody held him tighter. “You always are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! Thanks for reading!
> 
> I really wanted to do a series of drabbles/oneshots for the clones in different and varying settings so they could get some Christmas kisses. Some of them are going to be in universe, some of them not. I'll be putting summaries of each one in the beginning notes from here on out. 
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this little miniseries!


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